Jake Browning gets revenge for Vikings cutting him, leads Bengals' comeback win in OT

It looked like Jake Browning's dream ride had hit its expiration date. The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, filling in for injured superstar Joe Burrow, had played very well for a couple of weeks. Then, for the first three quarters Saturday, he looked like a player who didn't take an NFL snap until his fifth season out of college.

Browning was struggling, the Bengals were down 17-3 to the Minnesota Vikings, and their playoff hopes were about to take a big hit. Then Browning, fresh off a terrible interception, suddenly found the magic again.

He led three fourth-quarter touchdown drives, including an acrobatic, game-tying score by Tee Higgins with 39 seconds left in regulation, to help get the game to overtime. The Bengals got two straight stops on third and fourth down on Minnesota's off-brand attempts at a tush push quarterback sneak, and then Browning hit an enormous third-down pass to Tyler Boyd for 44 yards to set up a field goal and a 27-24 Bengals win. Cincinnati is 8-6 and very much alive in the AFC wild-card race.

When Browning had to take over for Burrow, the Bengals' season looked like it was done. Nobody knew what the Bengals had in their backup quarterback, but now he's writing a pretty cool story. And he's keeping receipts.

After the game, Browning shared how he still held a grudge against the Vikings for the way they cut him two years ago. He said he was cut and told there might be a spot for him on the practice squad, and the Vikings didn't bother updating him that he didn't get the spot. His agent told him.

"I've been cut my fair share of times, but that was probably the s***tiest one," Browning told the media afterward.

Browning said he looked at a TV camera after the win and said "They never should have cut me." A lot of teams are wishing they had Browning at this point.

Bengals fall behind early

The NFL gave us a flexed Saturday matchup of two teams with winning records fighting for playoff spots. The only thing missing was the starting quarterbacks.

The Bengals and Vikings have been without their quarterbacks for a while, as Burrow and Kirk Cousins both suffered season-ending injuries. That sums up this NFL season: Even a good game has no healthy star quarterbacks. And it showed early on.

Nick Mullens, the Vikings' fourth starting quarterback this season, made some mistakes in the first half that kept Minnesota from extending its lead. The worst mistake happened late in the first half, when he made a bad decision to try to unload a pass as he was being sacked, and Bengals defensive tackle BJ Hill caught it on his back.

Browning made his mistakes, too. He had been very good for two weeks but struggled against the pressure-based defense of Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. He threw a bad interception in the third quarter, which the Vikings turned into a field goal and a 17-3 lead. Given how Browning had been playing, the game seemed over.

Then Browning and the Bengals got hot.

Bengals tie it late in 4th

The interception seemed to calm Browning down, strangely enough. He started hitting passes. The Bengals got a touchdown from Browning to Higgins, then another on a fourth-and-goal run by Joe Mixon. The game was tied 17-17.

The Bengals got another gift from Mullens, a pick-6, but it was nullified because the Bengals were offsides. That allowed the Vikings to keep the drive going, and they took the 24-17 lead. Mullens made another reckless decision to throw into the end zone in traffic, but Jordan Addison came up with the pass for a go-ahead touchdown. It was Addison's second touchdown of the game, and the first one was a tight throw that he happened to catch and then turned upfield for the score.

The Bengals had a shot to answer, though they saw star receiver Ja'Marr Chase go back to the locker room during the drive due to a shoulder injury. He was ruled out shortly after. With less than a minute left, Browning threw one up to Higgins, who came back to the ball, caught it and twisted into the end zone to tie the game 24-24 with 39 seconds left.

The Bengals got the ball first in overtime, but the Vikings' defense made plays. On second down, Minnesota got a huge sack, and on third down, officials didn't throw a penalty flag for what looked like pass interference. The Bengals punted.

Minnesota needed a field goal to win it. The Vikings had fourth-and-inches just outside of field-goal range and tried a tush push quarterback sneak, but Mullens didn't go anywhere. That set up the Bengals to win it, and Browning's big pass to Boyd sealed the victory.

The Bengals looked done several times Saturday. But Browning still had something up his sleeve.